A sales representative for Bata, a shoe manufacturer in Enugu, has described how the police illegally detained him and tried to extort him for some missing goods and money.
Chisom Okoro, who works at the Bata outlet on Ogui Road, Enugu, reported that he was at home on Friday morning when he received a call from his manager to report to work. He said he and his colleagues were later taken to the Enugu State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) on Okpara Avenue as part of a probe into the missing items.
According to him, the police first searched his apartment without a warrant and found nothing incriminating. He said he was then asked to write a statement at the station, but when he finished, the police refused to let him go.
“They said I should give them N100,000 before they would release me,” he said. “They said I would sleep there till Monday if I did not pay. It was already past 7 p.m. and I was getting scared, so I decided to tweet for help.”
Okoro posted a tweet at 7:14 p.m. on Friday, saying he had been illegally detained at the SCID and that the police were demanding N100,000 for his bail. His tweet caught the attention of Daniel Ndukwe, the Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Enugu State Police Command, who intervened and secured his release later that night.
In a statement on Saturday, Ndukwe confirmed Okoro’s release, saying he was let go without paying anything. He also said the Commissioner of Police in the state had ordered an investigation into the matter and that anyone found culpable would be dealt with accordingly.
However, when Ndukwe was contacted to ask if the police actually demanded $100,000 from Okoro in the first place, he declined to comment.
Okoro said he was grateful for his freedom but still traumatized by his ordeal. He said he hoped the police would find the real culprits behind the missing goods and money and clear his name.
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